Morning Briefing

If Chi Chi Can't Win, Something's Wrong

Chi Chi Rodriguez, after finishing second in the PGA Seniors Championship in Florida, said it just wasn't his day.

"I think Gary Player was supposed to win," said Rodriguez, who revealed that his brother, Jesus Rodriguez, had flown up from Puerto Rico to watch him play.

"When you have a guy named Jesus follow you for 18 holes, pulling for you, and you don't win, something's wrong."

Add Chi Chi: After tying for the lead Saturday, he said: "I had scrambled eggs for breakfast and it was a good thing because I scrambled all day. I missed eight greens and got up and down all eight times.

"I'm a superstitious guy and tried everything. I changed sweaters three times and went from singing in English to Spanish."

Add Forgettable Quotes: Said Pam Shriver on the eve of her match with Martina Navratilova for the Virginia Slims title at Dallas: "I don't think Martina is as confident as she once was. I've seen her quotes in the newspapers. Her play is just not where she wants it."

Navratilova won, 6-0, 6-3.

Trivia Time: Name the only four major league players who last season batted .300, hit 30 home runs and drove in 100 runs. (Answer below.)

From David Davidson of the Atlanta Constitution: "After giving his team a lecture on academics, Georgia Tech basketball Coach Bobby Cremins used the word 'porte' instead of 'forte' when speaking of a player's strength. Forward Tom Hammonds, running down the court, looked toward assistant coach Perry Clark on the sideline and joked, 'Wonder what Coach made on his SAT?' "

More From Davidson: "When Florida basketball Coach Norm Sloan was head coach at Presbyterian early in his career, he also served as an assistant football coach under Bo Schembechler, who also served as Sloan's basketball assistant. 'I told him he was the worst assistant I ever had,' said Sloan, 'and he told me I was the worst assistant he ever had.' "

Alex McGowan, coach of Debi Thomas, is delighted that the skater made the cover of Time magazine.

"The guy taking the picture told us they considered it a good omen," McGowan said. "In 1976, they put Dorothy Hamill on the cover and she won the gold medal. In '80, it was Ingemar Stenmark and he won a gold medal. In '84, it was Phil Mahre, and he won one, too. So I say this is a good omen."

Dudley Stokes, a member of Jamaica's bobsled team at Calgary, is a military pilot who confesses he likes to live on the edge.

"My mother says she spent nine months creating me and I have spent the last 25 years trying to undo it," he said.

Julius Erving, on Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers: "When Charles first came into the league, his body proportions were out of whack. He looked more like Dom DeLuise. Now he looks like Michelangelo's statue David. The only thing that is fat now is his head."